Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives to speak at the Liberal Party national convention in Montreal on Saturday.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
With the Liberals on the cusp of securing a majority government, Prime Minister Mark Carney delivered a campaign-style speech urging them to rally in the service of national unity.
His remarks to close out the Liberal Party convention in Montreal were the highlight of a three-day gathering that saw Liberals debate policy in the meeting rooms and talk politics in the hallways.
On everyone’s minds: will there be more floor-crosses and what will happen in Monday’s by-elections?
Ontario MP Marilyn Gladu joined the Liberals on Wednesday in a move that gave them 171 seats out of the 343 available in the House of Commons.
There are three vacancies, and by-elections for those ridings are taking place Monday.
Liberals courting as many as eight more potential floor-crossers, sources say
Two are in long-held Liberal ridings in Toronto, and the party is expected to retain them. That would give them 173 seats and a majority government.
The Liberals won their minority government last April with 169 seats.
Both Mr. Carney and his wife, Diana Fox Carney, who introduced him, spoke about that campaign Saturday, thanking Liberals who worked for the win.
One year ago the party started down the road “to make the best country in the world even better,” and that work continues, Mr. Carney said in his speech.
“United, we will build Canada strong, a Canada for all, a Canada strong that no one can ever take away,” he said.
The third by-election Monday is in the Quebec riding of Terrebonne and the result remains unclear.
Terrebonne by-election puts Carney's popularity to the test
The Liberals won by a single vote last year over the Bloc Quebecois but the Supreme Court later annulled the result.
Bloc Quebecois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet has pitched voters in Terrebonne on coming back to his party because Mr. Carney would already have a majority with victories in the other by-elections.
Mr. Blanchet has said those who may have voted Liberal last year because of the international context – the election turned on who was best to manage the economy in the midst of a trade war – can now “come home” and vote on local issues.
Mr. Carney said in his speech that he is “recommitting” to the same mission as last year’s election: to build up Canada.
“A Canada that is not just prosperous, but fair,” he said.
“A Canada not just for some, most of the time, but for all, all the time.”
Ms. Gladu was the fifth opposition MP brought into the Liberal caucus since November, but the fact she is a known social conservative drew questions about what it meant for the Liberal Party’s long-standing progressive policies on social issues.
Ms. Gladu and Mr. Carney have both said she will vote with the government on social issues.
Mr. Carney recommitted to the party’s support for a woman’s right to choose to end a pregnancy and LGBTQ rights in his speech, which earned him an enthusiastic cheer from the floor and a standing ovation. That same response greeted his review of his government’s promises to boost military spending.
In his speech, Mr. Carney said that building out the party’s tent is part of the Liberal tradition, citing ways past prime ministers – including Justin Trudeau, his immediate predecessor – have built Canada.
“Canada’s founding insight is that unity does not require uniformity,” Mr. Carney said.
“This is neither myth nor miracle, but a series of choices, made imperfectly, across generations.”